Spring 2008 Courses
Religious Tradition and Faith
RELJ/C 302: Faith on Trial: The Book of Job and Its Traditions (TR
09:30-10:45)
Martien Halvorson-Taylor
RELJ 309: Israelite Prophecy(MW 14:00-15:15)
Greg Goering
RELJ 331: Law in Judaism(TR 11:00-12:15)
Elizabeth Alexander
RELJ 375: Scriptural Reading in Judaism(T 15:30-18:00)
Peter Ochs
RELJ/C 501: Genesis and Its Interpretation(TR 14:00-15:15)
Martien
Halvorson-Taylor
RELJ 520: Mishnah Seminar(M 15:30-18:00)
Elizabeth Alexander
History and Culture
HIEU 210: Jewish History II: The Modern Experience (TR 9:30-10:45)
James
Loeffler
MUSI 213: Introduction to Jewish Musical Traditions (TR 11:00-12:15)
Joel
Rubin
RELJ 339: Jewish Feminism (TR 1230-1345)
Vanessa Ochs
MUEN 363: Klezmer Ensemble (M R 19:30-9:30)
Joel Rubin
HIST 401: The Holocaust and the Law (R 13:00-15:30)
Gabriel Finder
RELG 539: Ethnographic Study of Jews (W 15:30-18:00)
Vanessa Ochs
Language and Literature
HEBR 102: Intro to Modern Hebrew II (M T W R F 10:00-10:50)
Hedda Harari
YIDD 106: Elementary Yiddish Language and Culture (M W F 11:00-11:50)
Gabriel
Finder
RELJ 112: Elementary Classical Hebrew II (MWF 11:00-11:50)
Greg Goering
HEBR 202: Intermediate Modern Hebrew II (MTWR 11:00-11:50)
Hedda Harari
HEBR 302: Advanced Modern Hebrew (MW 15:00-16:15)
Hedda Harari
GETR 347: Literary Responses to the Holocaust (MW 14:00-15:30)
Jeff Grossman
HEBR 494: Independent Study in Hebrew (T 2:00-3:15)
Hedda Harari
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Religious Tradition and Faith
RELC/J 302: Faith on Trial: The Book of Job and Its Traditions
Martien Halvorson-Taylor
An examination of the biblical book of Job along with related
texts - ancient, medieval, and modern - that allow us to establish the literary,
theological and philosophical, traditions in which Job was composed and the
literary, theological, and philosophical legacy it has created. Our study will
cover ancient texts from Mesopotamia, biblical Wisdom Literature, early Jewish
and Christian interpretations and retellings of Job, Aeschylus' Prometheus
Bound, Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, Kafka's The Trial, J.B. by MacLeish,
the writings of liberation theologian Gustavo Gutierrez, and the etchings of
William Blake. We will pay particular attention to the ways these works play off
one another in literary form and expression and in their treatment of such
themes as divine justice, human piety, the limits of human knowledge, and the
nature of the divine-human encounter.
RELJ 309: Israelite Prophecy
Greg Goering
This courses introduces
students to the phenomenon of prophecy in ancient Israel. We will read and
interpret the prophetic books and the prophetic figures of the Hebrew Bible in
the context of the larger phenomenon of prophecy in the ancient Near East. The
course also attempts to understand the phenomenon of prophecy in ancient Israel
through a comparison with studies on modern day Shamanism.
RELJ 331: Law in Judaism
Elizabeth Alexander
Jewish law has provided a
primary framework for religious expression from biblical to modern times. Jews
throughout the ages have asked: How does the law mediate between humans and God?
Why adhere to laws that appear to have no basis in reason? Should the law be
understood as universal or particularistic? In this course we will analyze
classical legal sources in order to answer these and related questions; we will
also survey medieval and modern responses to them.
RELJ 375: Scriptural Reasoning in Judaism
Peter Ochs
The first half of
the course will examine how recent Jewish philosophy and theology has turned
back to the study of sacred texts. The second half will examine how that turn
has engendered another turn: to intensive dialogue with like-minded Christian
and Muslim philosophers and theologians. The course will include various methods
of study: one-on-one fellowship study, small group study, large group. It will
require considerable reading in scriptural texts and in both classical and
contemporary commentaries - philosophic and theological. There will be several
papers and papers in place of exams. Students are advised to peruse these
websites to taste the kind of work the course will undertake: the e-journal of
textual reasoning (housed at uva);
and the e-journal of scriptural reasoning (created at
uva).
RELC/J 501: Genesis and Its Interpretation
Martien Halvorson-Taylor
An
examination of the Book of Genesis and its subsequent interpretation. We will
examine the literary artistry of the book -- the dramatic and tangled narrative
that opens the Hebrew Bible -- by considering plot, characterization, and its
compositional history. Using methods of modern biblical scholarship, we will
further consider the book in its historical and religious context. And, finally,
we will examine the early history of how the book was interpreted. Readings will
include not only biblical texts, but other ancient Near Eastern compositions
(the Enuma elish and the Gilgamesh epic) that shed light on Genesis, early
biblical interpretation, and secondary scholarship on the history, literature
and religion of Ancient Israel. [Advanced students in classical Hebrew may sign
up for a translation component.] Permission of the instructor is required.
RELJ 520: Mishnah Seminar
Elizabeth Alexander
This course trains students to
read Mishnah in the original language. Primary emphasis will be on giving
students tools to decode the text and set the text in its appropriate historical
and cultural contexts. Special attention will be paid to literary and legal
aspects of the text. The Mishnah will also compared with parallels from
contemporary compositions (the Tosephta and midrash halakhah). Secondary
readings will expose students to the range of theoretical concerns raised in the
interpretation of the Mishnah. We will address the following kinds of questions:
What is the purpose of the Mishnah? Was the Mishnah written down or orally
transmitted? How should a literary reading of the Mishnah proceed? What is the
function of dispute in the Mishnah? How can we best use the Mishnah as a
historical source in the reconstruction of early rabbinic Judaism?
History and Culture
HIEU 210: Jewish History II: The Modern Experience
James Loeffler
This course offers a general overview of modern Jewish history from the
sixteenth century to the present, focusing on the political, social, religious,
and cultural transformations of Jewish life and identity in this period. Major
topics to be discussed will include the effects of the Spanish Expulsion,
messianic religious movements, the French Revolution, the Jewish Enlightenment,
political emancipation, acculturation, modern Jewish politics, immigration and
the growth of the American Jewish community, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust,
Zionism, the State of Israel and the Soviet Jewish emigration. In addition, we
will examine the ongoing challenge of defining Jewish identity in the modern
world (Are the Jews a nationality? An ethnic group? A religion?) and the larger
questions of how to relate Jewish history to modern European, American, and
Middle Eastern history. The main textbook for this course will be Howard Morley
Sachar's A History of the Jews in the Modern World (2005). This will be
supplemented with a variety of other scholarly articles and an extensive array
of primary sources drawn chiefly from Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz's
source book, The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History (1995).
Requirements include three short papers in response to primary sources, a
midterm exam, and a final exam. This is an introductory course that assumes no
prior knowledge of Judaism or Jewish history. HIEU 210 follows HIEU 209, Jewish
History II: The Ancient and Medieval Experience, though the two may be taken
independently.
MUSI 213: Introduction to Jewish Musical Traditions
Joel Rubin
This course will provide an introduction to sacred and secular Jewish
musical traditions as they have developed in Israel and in the various diaspora
communities throughout the past 2,000 years. The texts will be drawn from a
number of book chapters and articles on digital reserve which draw on writings
from the literature of ethnomusicology and musicology, folklore, anthropology,
sociology, Jewish studies, history and other fields. The course will use a
case-study approach: concentrating on developments in Jewish musical traditions
since the middle of the 19th century, it will focus on a small number of diverse
traditions and styles within the framework of the three main groupings of
Ashkenazic, Sephardic and Mizrakhi Jewry. Each unit will be supplemented by
musical examples available on toolkit. When possible, field trips will be taken
to internal communal events such as synagogue services and holiday celebrations,
as well as to concerts and other public events. Attendance of at least one
out-of-class event will be required. These will be announced during the course
of the semester.
RELJ 339: Jewish Feminism
Vanessa Ochs
From ancient times to our own day,
Jewish women have engaged with Jewish tradition, texts and practices
appropriating, resisting and transforming them. In this course, we will study
the strategies by which contemporary women in Judaism have created, and continue
to create the conditions for increased spiritual empowerment, and will try to
anticipate new directions. We will study major works and issues in contemporary
American Jewish feminism from the mid-1960's to the present, concluding with the
work of 20-something Jewish feminists. We will study how Jewish feminists and
feminist scholars of Judaism have defined and legitimized the study of Jewish
women's experience by tracing the impact of Jewish feminism on Jewish ritual
practice, text study, prayer and theology.
MUEN 363: Klezmer Ensemble
Joel Rubin
Klezmer, originally the ritual and
celebratory music of the Yiddish-speaking Jews of Eastern Europe, was brought to
North America by immigrants around the turn of the last century. Since the
1970s, a dynamic revival of this tradition has been taking place in America and
beyond. Klezmer's recent popularity has brought it far from its roots in
medieval minstrelsy and Jewish ritual and into the sphere of mainstream culture.
The traditional klezmer style presents the experienced instrumentalist with a
range of technical challenges with its characteristic note bends, rubati,
Baroque-style embellishments and other micro-improvisational techniques, opening
up a world of expressive possibilities not available to them from either
classical music or jazz. This music was passed on orally from generation to
generation, and many of the ornaments which are so integral to the klezmer sound
can only be approximated by Western staff notation - not to mention the patterns
of improvised variation which are the cornerstone of the style. There will
therefore be an emphasis on learning by ear as much as possible, but we will be
using music in the form of lead sheets and other written instructional materials
to supplement sound examples.
We will focus this semester on various traditions, including accompanying Yiddish dances, hasidic nigunim (songs of spiritual elevation), and the klezmer tradition of the Land of Israel, coordinated with special events on January 27-28 and March 30-31, and April 14, as well as more generally on the klezmer traditions of New York between the two world wars, and 19th century Eastern Europe. The purpose of the ensemble is to study and perform music from these traditions. Emphasis will be on learning by ear, improvisation within a modal context, and learning to develop a cohesive ensemble sound. Concentration, practice, and good attendance are required of each ensemble member.
Performances will take place on Jan. 27 (off-grounds), Mar. 30 (off-grounds), and Apr. 6 (Old Cabell Hall auditorium, 8 pm).
HIST 401: The Holocaust and the Law
Gabriel Finder
This course explores the
pursuit of legal justice after the Holocaust. We will study legal responses to
the Nazi genocide of Europe's Jews in Europe, Israel, and the United States from
the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust to the present. We will examine the
Nuremberg Trial, the Eichmann Trial, national trials of collaborators, legal
efforts for restitution and the reclamation of Jewish property, and the recent
Holocaust denial libel trial in England Irving v. Penguin Books and Lipstadt.
Mindful of the postwar historical context, we will pose the question whether
legal responses to the Holocaust have served justice on the perpetrators and
delivered justice to not only the victims but also history and memory. In this
vein, we will ask how the pursuit of legal justice after the Holocaust affects
our understanding of the legal process.
Through the first half of the semester we will consider these issues in class. Assigned readings for this part of the course may include Michael R. Marrus, The Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, 1945-46: A Reader; Lawrence Douglas, The Memory of Judgment: Making Law and History in the Trials of the Holocaust; Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil; Stuart E. Eizenstat, Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II; Rebecca Wittmann, Beyond Justice: The Auschwitz Trial; and Deborah E. Lipstadt, History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving. The average weekly reading load is 150 pages.
For the remainder of the semester students will produce an original 25-page paper on some aspect of post-Holocaust trials that is based largely on primary sources. Students are required to develop their topics in consultation with the instructor and meet with him periodically while they are researching and writing their papers. During the course of the semester students will be expected to submit a bibliography for and an outline of their papers, as well as a first draft that a fellow student will critique in class (peer review). Grades will be determined on the basis of the bibliography, outline, and research paper as well as class participation. Active participation in class is expected.
This course fulfills the second writing requirement. Non-History Majors require the permission of the instruction to enroll.
RELG 539: Ethnographic Study of Jews
Vanessa Ochs
Ethnographers spend time
among the population they study and write about in order to observe and
interpret all events in context. This seminar, offers a critical introduction to
both theory and research methodology, and provides a framework for thinking
about Jews and Judaism from an anthropological perspective. We will study
contemporary American Jewish experience primarily, making comparisons to Israel.
Ethnographers whose work we will consider include Susan Sered, Riv-Ellen Prell,
Stephanie Levin, Barbara Myerhoff, Lawrence Hoffman, Susan Kahn, Samuel Heilman,
Jonathan Boyarin, Jeffrey Shandler, Howard Eilberg-Schwartz, and Barbara
Kirshenblatt Gimblett. This course is open to advanced undergraduates and
graduate students interested in religions as they are practiced and in Jewish
Studies.
Language and Literature
HEBR 102: Intro to Modern Hebrew II
Hedda Harari
This course teaches students
to understand and create simple texts in Modern Hebrew through exposure to the
Hebrew currently used in Israeli television, cinema, pop music, Internet,
literature, and everyday conversation. Each lesson emphasizes all four skills:
reading, listening comprehension, speaking, and writing, so that the students
will feel comfortable to use their skills in the same manner. Grammar will play
an important role because understanding grammatical processes makes it easier to
learn to speak Hebrew. Similarly, reading and writing will be important inasmuch
as these skills facilitate acquisition of speaking competence. Material on
Israeli culture, history, and politics is also included. Class will be conducted
in Hebrew, and the use of English by students will be discouraged.
YIDD 106: Elementary Yiddish Language and Culture
Gabriel Finder
To adapt a phrase from David G. Roskies, the preeminent scholar in this
country of Yiddish literature, "Yiddish is dead. Long live Yiddish!"
In his book The Jewish Search for a Usable Past (1999), Roskies writes:
"The moment the past is finally laid to reset is the very moment that it
reasserts its claim upon the living." If Yiddish was the language of the
Jews of Eastern and Central Europe before the khurban ("Holocaust" in
Yiddish) and of Jewish immigrants from the "old country" to the
"new world," which they called the goldene medina ("the country
made out of gold"), it is now being revived by thousands of enthusiasts who
are interested in reclaiming this vibrant lost world of tradition and
transformation, dreams and nightmares. Yiddish is the key to the portal of this
world. Indeed, it is a vastly rich world unto itself.
This course is a continuation of YIDD 105 and continues to introduce students to the fundamentals of the Yiddish language and to Yiddish culture. We will study Yiddish structure and syntax, acquire a basic vocabulary, and apply these skills to speaking, reading, and writing. In the course of our exploration of the Yiddish world, we will watch Yiddish films and listen to Yiddish music.
RELJ 112: Elementary Classical Hebrew II
Greg Goering
A sequel to RELJ 111.
Using both deductive and inductive methods, this course will give students a
basic grasp of classical Hebrew grammar and syntax. By the end of the spring
semester, students will be able to read and translate narrative prose from the
Hebrew Bible. Being able to read the Hebrew Bible in its original language
guarantees a better window into the life and thought of the ancient Israelites.
Successful completion of this course and its sequel will also allow one to
continue study of classical Hebrew at the intermediate level.
HEBR 202: Intermediate Modern Hebrew II
Hedda Harari
This course teaches
students to understand and create texts in Modern Hebrew through exposure to the
Hebrew currently used in Israeli television, cinema, pop music, Internet,
literature, and everyday conversation. Each lesson emphasizes all four skills:
reading, listening comprehension, speaking, and writing, so that the students
will feel comfortable to use their skills in the same manner. Grammar will play
an important role because understanding grammatical processes makes it easier to
learn to speak Hebrew. Similarly, reading and writing will be important inasmuch
as these skills facilitate acquisition of speaking competence. Material on
Israeli culture, history, and politics is also included. This course will
combine and broaden the grammatical structures and vocabulary studied in level
101-102 and 201. By the end of Level 202, students will be familiar with the
basic structure of the Hebrew Language. The Class will be conducted in Hebrew,
and the use of English by students will be discouraged.
HEBR 302: Advanced Modern Hebrew
Hedda Harari
This course will teach students
to understand unadapted articles and create passages in Modern Hebrew through
exposure to the Hebrew currently used in Israeli television, cinema, pop music,
Internet, literature, newspaper, and everyday conversation. Each lesson
emphasizes all four skills: reading, listening comprehension, speaking, and
writing, so that the students will feel comfortable to use their skills in the
same manner. Grammar will play an important role because understanding
grammatical processes makes it easier to learn to speak Hebrew. Similarly,
reading and writing will be important inasmuch as these skills facilitate
acquisition of speaking competence. Material on Israeli culture, history, and
politics is also included. The course will combine and broaden the grammatical
structures and vocabulary studied in level 201-202 and 301. By the end of 302,
students will be able to read texts in regular Hebrew, write on topics discussed
in class. The Class will be conducted in Hebrew, and the use of English by
students will be discouraged.
GETR 347: Literary Responses to the Holocaust
Jeffrey Grossman
This course examines how writers working in various genres, modes and media seek
to respond to the event commonly referred to as the Holocaust. How does that
event impinge on memory in the post-1945 period; how do writers confront such
problems of memory -- in the generation of survivors and the generations that
follow. How successful have been the various attempts at public commemoration?
Readings to be drawn from: Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, Charlotte Delbo, Dan Pagis,
Paul Celan, Nelly Sachs, Rose Auslaender, Aharon Appelfeld, Jurek Becker, Anne
Michaels, Esther Dischereit. Maxim Biller, David Grossman, James Young and
others. Films may include: Night and Fog, Shoah, Europa Europa and My Quarrel
with Hersh Rasseyner. Requirements: one short paper (5-7 pages); one long paper
(10-12 pp).
HEBR 494: Independent Studies in Hebrew
Hedda Harari
This course will teach
students to understand unadapted articles and create passages in Modern Hebrew
through exposure to the Hebrew currently used in Israeli television, cinema, pop
music, Internet, literature, newspaper, and everyday conversation. Each lesson
emphasizes all four skills: reading, listening comprehension, speaking, and
writing, so that the students will feel comfortable to use their skills in the
same manner. Grammar will play an important role because understanding
grammatical processes makes it easier to learn to speak Hebrew. Similarly,
reading and writing will be important inasmuch as these skills facilitate
acquisition of speaking competence. Material on Israeli culture, history, and
politics is also included as well as Israeli literature. The course will combine
and broaden the grammatical structures and vocabulary studied in level 301-302
and 493. By the end of 302, students will be able to read texts in regular
Hebrew, write on topics discussed in class. The Class will be conducted in
Hebrew, and the use of English by students will be discouraged.